K12 Insight
Edtech
Startup
B2B
Redesigning the core of a B2B SaaS platform built for K–12 school districts.
Role
design lead
team
Superlative
Biggest Dreamer
Our audience
Works for K-12 schools
Systems admins
Needs effcicency
Lacks time
Research & Pain Points
When I initially onboarded with the platform, I had a gut feeling that something was missing. The UX was piece-mailed together and our CSMs ended up doing the bulk of the work for clients because the process was so confusing.
Our CSMs do the bulk of the work for our clients, from onboarding to maintenance.
Our clients use Topics, forms tied to a specific concern, like a bullying report or a laptop request. Some districts had hundreds, but there was no way to manage them at scale. Users couldn't edit forms without going to the Dev team.
Topics connected to Landing Pages, Team Members, Success Messages, and more but setting all of it up meant jumping between three different places.
Topics Manager before
Topics Manager after
Superlative
Biggest Dreamer
When working on Form Builder, The goal was to organize all of this information so users could easily navigate between custom forms, Topics, and more. It brought everything together so users had an overview and could see how Topics and forms connect, and make bulk edits.
It was a completely different concept than anything on the platform.
It was time to show off my baby, so I walked my design manager through the wireframes. Silence. I wear my expressions on my face. I can't hide it. So I'm there, my big face on the screen, totally cool as a cucumber. Totally. After a few hours, my manager said, "this is a little jarring."
But she understood the process and came over to the dark side. She knew we needed this. With some more brainstorming and adjustments, we moved forward to present it to our PMs and the leadership team where it promptly died.
Ok, ok, I lied for the drama. Actually, it was reborn on a bigger scale. After some rigorous discussion with the team, we concluded the design fixed the problem of scalability, and it was moved to Topics Manager, one of the main functions of the platform.
The results
Places needed to onboard a client, now done in one
Dev time per custom form request, eliminated
Topics now editable in bulk instead of one by one
This view smooths out the onboarding process, it's clear to see the relationship between Topics, forms, team members, and more. The company moved to think more holistically about design and how it affects the entire platform.
Allegedly, I'm pretty good.
Zenia continues to be a helpful sounding board for ideas. I value her questions around organizational setup and strategy and she often pushes the team to think about the bigger picture and ensures we’re aligning our work with clear goals.
Erin K.
frm. Sr Product Designer
Boldin
Zenia’s ability to craft a cohesive user experience that spans multiple platforms (enterprise vs core)
significantly enhances our overall product strategy.
Cez C.
Sr. Product Designer
Boldin
Zenia’s skill at engaging with stakeholders has been outstanding. She has a unique ability to get to the root of stakeholder feedback to identify the true needs they’re expressing. This skill is rare and highly effective.
Patrick H.
Product Manager
Boldin